So You Want To Make An Oc?
by Spark Plug x
Summary: This is just a really quick and simple guide with a few tips on how to make yourself and original character/fan character. I'm no expert, but I've been around the block for a while, so I have a grasp on what I'm doing. If you have any topics you want me to go more in depth about, let me know.


**Merry Christmas/Happy Holidays to you all! I guess this sort of like a Christmas presents, sort of, because many of you have messaged me about your own characters and how to make them better.**

**Today I will be giving you tips and tell you how to make your OC super badass! **

**PLEASE LET IT BE NOTED THAT I AM NO EXPERT, AND YOU MAY DO WHATEVER YOU PLEASE. THIS IS JUST A SORT OF TUTORIAL FOR THOSE WHO NEED ASSITANCE. **

**God this is going to be really messy and I am so sorry but I'm scatterbrained. **

**Also, this is really kind of quick and to the point. I will be more than happy to write chapters that center around any topic you want me to write about (like getting more in depth about looks or personality). Just leave it in the review and I really don't mind writing a chapter.**

**Honestly I will probably be writing chapters on a lot of these topics, because, hey, this shit is difficult. It's hard to make a character (a good character). **

**It's important to go in depth, but, you never realize how…difficult it is to write a simple guide until you decide to do it. So, most likely I will write more in depth chapters, just tell me what you'd like me to write about! (even plot or things like that)**

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><p>Today the characters I will be using are as followed:<p>

Benjamin Youngblood – Harry Potter

Xavier Hōshakuji (Later his last named is changed to Labelle, his mother's last name) – Ouran Host Club

Natalie Chem – Pokemon

Cassius Rushton – Pokemon.

Now, as I stated before, I am no expert on the making of OCS/FCS. I have, however, had my share of creating them. I probably have, honestly, over twenty, including side OCS and such. I've had bad ones and really amazing ones.

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><p><em><strong>First, Before we get to basics, we're going to discuss a few points before you even start to think of your super cute and fun OC!<strong>_

**Do not make your OC a self-insert.**

What does this mean? This basically means, do not insert yourself into the story. Do not make your OC just like you. Of course, add parts of you into your character, to make them relate to you. The characteristics I put into practically all of my characters are that they are usually blonde, like myself, they love cookie dough ice cream and red velvet cake, and they tend to be sarcastic. Those are just the main points. It's weird, but, that's just how all of them are.

Your OC shouldn't be you. You can be like your OC, but not a copy. Pick a few points and roll with it.

**Now to Basics**

So you want to make an OC, yeah? Alright then. What's the fandom?

Picking a fandom is a huge part. This dictates what realm you're in, what you can do, and your character. Once you pick a fandom, you can move on.

**So, you picked your fandom. Now what? Well, how a gender, name, looks, background, family, talents, flaws, qualities, personality? **

In this huge world, those choices are difficult. **Genders** man… Most of my characters are boys, why? Well, I like to write boys, and I'm good at them. My friend, also my BETA reader, usually picks girls, because those are what she is good at. So, pick your gender (or make them unisex, it's your story homeboy)

**Name.** Names are so important, but gee, can you pick a non-Japanese name? I understand much of these characters will be for an anime, but, your character doesn't always have to have a Japanese name. None of mine do, at all. I just don't like them all the time, though I know why sometimes you would give them a Japanese name. Just be unique. Naming the character can happen at any moment in this process, it doesn't have to happen first. I like names that sort of flow:

Xavier Caspian Labelle. Natalie Arcadia Chem. Benjamin Grant Youngblood.

How about **looks**? Now I'll tell you right now, red eyes are overdone. If they are a mythical creature, go for it, but no human character should have red eyes unless they are albino. The whole, red eyes, black hair, pale skin, is overdone and needs to stop. Otherwise, looks are all you. Though, please try to avoid size two girls that have huge boobs. That's unrealistic. Stop. Natalie is about a size 6-8, and she has a chest that is average for a girl her size. Yuukio, my friend's character, is a model. She's tall, thin, and flat as a board. That fits her body very well.

To help with looks, I just…it depends. You need to factor into what your character likes to do (athlete maybe?) and kind of build from there.

Sometimes it's best to look at pictures of celebrities. Benjamin looks like Sam Claifin when he plays Finnick from the Hunger Games. Cassius has hair that sort of resembles Jack Barakat's, except the colors are reversed. Looking at art work can really help to.

Remember, you can change what they look like. Throughout your story, they change grow their hair out or get more muscle or grow a few inches.

**BACKSTORIES! The hardest part of a character, and I'm roping this in with family.**

Do not do the over used: Family is all dead, family hates them, family treats sibling better, etc. I'm telling you this, because these are hard families to do. They come off very mary sue, but if you can do it and not make it the whole character, do it.

When you do a background, you can keep it simple. They can come from a loving home. That's good.

Cassius comes from a loving home. Yes, his parents had to move to a different region for work, but he stayed with his grandpa who loved him dearly and got to speak to his parents on a weekly basis.

Benjamin comes from a huge, but loving family. Technically, two, since his parents divorced and remarried. He has four younger siblings (technically six but he doesn't see two of them much), that he cares for during the summer, so he's very maternal and protective.

Xavier's parents are extremely different. His father is very tight shipped and wants to control Xavier' life, while his mother is carefree and just wants him happy. This later causes them to divorce and Xavier, whose been at a boarding school in England since he was ten, to basically snap. He tries to find comfort in anything, mostly drinking and sex, and begins to spiral down. He's depressed, but he doesn't full grasp it. He knows something isn't right, but he can't figure out how to fix it.

So, as you can see, there's so many types of families and back stories you can do. I want to get more into my characters, but, they are in current stories and that would be spoiling a lot.

A background is important, and so is the family. It makes the character who they are, but, remember, the character you start with doesn't have to be the one you end with. Backstories are just the start. They are the base layer of your character.

Natalie Chem starts off as cold and distant. She's very blunt and she doesn't hold back. As her story unfolds, she becomes paranoid, quiet, and anxiety filled, but she learns from this. She comes back strong, still blunt, but she's more open with how she feels. She undergoes character development, which is MY FAVORITE THING.

I love _character development_. EVERYONE SHOULD. YOU NEED THIS. YOU NEED YOUR OC TO LEARN FROM MISTAKES. Am I saying change your complete character? Nooooo. I want them to grow. I want them to learn and to thrive and to become a better, or a worse, character. Character development opens so many doors, but just imagine yourself when you were….thirteen. Are you the same as you were back then? No? Good, you went through some character development. Good job.

**Talents, Flaws, and Qualities. **

This is the hardest part I believe. How to make your character…realistic.

Let's start off with a talent. Give them one, no more than three. Now, talents and skills are DIFFERENT.

Benjamin is a metamorphmagus. This is, a witch or wizard that has the ability to change his or her appearance. You are born this and it is not a skill you can learn. This, to me, is his ability and or talent. He is an amazing metamorphmagus, and because of this, he is good at transfiguration, which is, basically, making one object into or another and along those lines. (I'm so sorry if you don't know Harry Potter this must be confusing).

So, that's his talent. Now, he can also draw/paint. Why? Well, this sort of goes in with his background. His grandmother is also a metamorphmagus as it is a thing that can run in the family, and it runs in his family. She took care of him most of his life, because he needed to learn how to control his ability. He didn't have many other kids to play with, so he drew. He learned his talent and continued with it.

See how they worked? That makes talents legit.

So skills. Benjamin has skills in cooking, because he has siblings he babysits and they, of course, eat. He's got skills in cooking, some in sewing, cleaning, and other house hold chores. He has those basic skills because he needed them. Is he amazing at them like he is with drawing?

NO! NO NO NO NO! He's decent at them. Why? Well, are you amazing at everything you do?

Didn't think so.

Talents and skills are different. If I made him amazing at drawing, cooking, cleaning and sewing, that would be too many talents and he'd be a gary stu. That's not what we want here. We want that big talent, and some things they are good at.

Now let me tell you, my characters are flaws stitched up with good intentions, as I like to say. I make my characters have more flaws than anything else, because flaws are natural.

Xavier has many flaws. He's loud, he smokes, he drinks, he's blunt, he's shit with his feelings, he locks himself away all day, he's self-destructive, he's mean, he's inappropriate at times, and he's disrespectful.

But, Xavier has good qualities too. He's sweet and helpful, he's polite to ladies, he's understanding and non-judgmental, and he wants to be better, but he finds it difficult.

Sometimes people put tragic backstories as flaws, and no, that's not it. Backstories can cause flaws, many of Xavier's flaws are due to his background. That's okay. That's realistic. Things in the past can affect your future, so hey, it's normal. You cannot let them rule your character though.

**Personalities**

Personalities run with flaws and qualities.

Personalities are hard to explain, so I'll keep it simple, or try to.

Cassius and Benjamin have that very, "Hey, dude! What's up?" personality. They are my people-characters. They are friendly. Extroverts? Not so much, but they do enjoy people.

Xavier and Natalie are my, "kindly fuck off" characters. They are not people-persons, and will never be.

All of my characters are introverts. Does this mean they aren't friendly? No. Introverts can be the life of the party, but they need down time. They need time to themselves to relax and recharge.

So, introvert or extrovert? Does your character need to be with someone always ,or are they fine by themselves?

Personalities can be created when you pick traits. Pick a few traits for your character.

Do you want them to be that cheerful character? Well, how about making them thoughtful, a little naïve, or gullible, loud, etc. Write down traits that remind you of your character. It really does help.

**ETC.**

Now this is messy, but, here's a funny story about Xavier.

He was a girl, years and years ago. When I first made him, he was a girl, named Xavier. This Xavier was a totally different person. She was a cry baby and a scardy cat. She hated being alone and was shy and nervous. My present Xavier has no problem being alone or telling you to 'fuck off'.

What I'm saying is, there's rough drafts for characters. The first go won't always be the only go. You can re-do a character. That's okay. My first Xavier was horrible, but now, I love this Xavier. He's great and you know what? He took me a while to make.

Cassius didn't exist until two years ago, even though Natalie has existed for at least three years. If you read my pokemon story, you might find this odd, because Natalie and Cassius are a pair (they are not a couple. They are platonic like no other). You cannot have one without the other.

Natalie and Cassius are foils. A foil are two characters who are…I suppose, opposites if that makes it easier to get.

To create Cassius, I made him basically the opposite of Natalie. He's outgoing, carefree, doesn't follow rules, and loves the ocean. Natalie is more….mean, blunt, sarcastic, and hates the ocean.

But they fit, because they have similar back grounds. Both worked for evil organizations, and while they are so different, they relate because of that, and because they need each other. They work off each other. Cassius learns to think before he acts, and Natalie learns to be more open and express how she feels more.

If you're going to make two characters, foiling might help you. Now, I'm not saying make them night and day, because Cassius and Natalie aren't like that. They are different, but they have something that connects them. Remember that connection!

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><p>So as I said before this is messy. It was really just supposed to be a quick little fun guide. I figured I'd try and help some of you out and I've always wanted to write one of these because people tend to like my characters (I don't know why they're all assholes).<p>

So if there's anything you want me to go more in depth about, shoot me a pm on here or my tumblr (link on profile) or leave it in the review!

Happy Holidays!


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